911 caller 'never dreamed' Brentwood officer would be killed

BRENTWOOD — Larry Kingsbury knows his wife, Barb, did the right thing when she heard an angry Michael Nolan cursing at his father across the street.

Jason Schreiber

BRENTWOOD — Larry Kingsbury knows his wife, Barb, did the right thing when she heard an angry Michael Nolan cursing at his father across the street.

With the situation escalating, Barb, who was sitting outside on her porch with neighbor Susan Maguire, became concerned and grabbed the phone to call 911.

It was her call that brought Brentwood officer Steve Arkell to the Nolan residence at 46 Mill Pond Road on Monday afternoon.

The Kingsburys never expected Arkell to be ambushed when he stepped inside to investigate what seemed like a routine call.

“All the police that have come back here and saw Barb told her she did the right thing. If she hadn't done this they felt it would have been a lot worse. He could have shot us or our neighbors. They said he just totally snapped. Once Officer Arkell was gone what did he have to lose?” Larry Kingsbury, 68, said Thursday.

The deadly shooting and the house explosion that is believed to have killed the 47-year-old Nolan have shaken the Kingsburys and the Maguires to the core.

“Of course Barb knows she did the right thing, but she feels bad that Officer Arkell was killed in this,” her husband said.

Monday started out as just another day in the Mill Pond Crossing 55-and-older housing complex, but everything changed by afternoon.

Susan Maguire and her husband, Jim, lived on one side of a duplex. Walter Nolan, 86, and his son, Michael, 47, lived on the other.

The Kingsburys live across the street from the Maguires and Nolans.

Susan Maguire was visiting with Barb on the front porch when the two women heard Michael Nolan raising his voice.

Larry Kingsbury said his wife worked for 30 years in child services for the state of Vermont and understands how situations can escalate.

“She said, 'My gut tells me this is going further than just domestic violence.' Because of her training and background she knew that it wasn't going to end well,” he said.

She told Maguire of her plans to call 911.

After making the call, the two neighbors watched as Arkell arrived and Walter Nolan greeted him at the door.

Just seconds after he entered, the neighbors heard multiple gunshots.

That's when Barb frantically picked up the phone and dialed 911 again and told her husband, who was inside their house.

Minutes later Fremont police officer Derek Franek showed up. Still trying to assess the scene, Franek placed Walter Nolan in handcuffs and told him to remain outside. Franek then entered the house, and according to authorities, he also came under fire and escaped through the back.

Multiple officers soon converged on the neighborhood, which was now under siege.

More shots rang out as Maguire, whose husband wasn't home at the time, and the Kingsburys ran inside and tried to stay out of the line of fire.

Police told the three to seek shelter in the basement. When the house caught fire and exploded, Larry Kingsbury said he could feel the foundation of his house shake.

“We never dreamed the house was going to explode. We just never dreamed of that. It was horrendous,” he said.

The Kingsburys are now trying to understand how this tragedy happened, but they may never know.

“It's just a terrible thing. I feel bad for my community. We've lost someone in our community,” Larry Kingsbury said.

Calling him a “gentle kind-hearted man,” he doesn't blame Walter Nolan for what happened.

“Michael snapped and we don't know the reason,” he said.

While the community mourns the loss of a police officer, Walter Nolan and the Maguires, who lost their two cats, must stay with relatives until they can find a new home.

An online fundraiser called “Helping Good Neighbors in Need” has been established to help the Maguires recover on YouCaring.com.

“I know it's going to be a long process before they ever get back into a home,” said Pam Kirby, director of organization development, human resources and training at the Bean Group, a Seacoast real estate company.

Kirby, who met the Maguires when she helped them sell their Stratham home to buy the condominium in Brentwood in 2011, set up the fundraiser with real estate agent Betsy Doolan.

“I just thought we could do something to help them right now. They had a beautiful home and that was their pride and joy,” Kirby said.

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